Cantaloupe (NASDAQ:CTLP) versus Western Union (NYSE:WU) Head to Head Analysis

Western Union (NYSE:WU) and Cantaloupe (NASDAQ:CTLP) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and profitability.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Western Union and Cantaloupe”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Western Union	$4.21 billion	0.62	$934.20 million	$2.64	3.06
Cantaloupe	$302.55 million	2.57	$64.53 million	$0.79	13.42

Western Union has higher revenue and earnings than Cantaloupe. Western Union is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cantaloupe, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Western Union and Cantaloupe’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Union	21.83%	66.11%	7.04%
Cantaloupe	21.33%	10.43%	6.62%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Western Union and Cantaloupe, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Union	5	7	0	0	1.58
Cantaloupe	1	5	1	0	2.00

Western Union currently has a consensus price target of $8.50, suggesting a potential upside of 5.26%. Cantaloupe has a consensus price target of $12.55, suggesting a potential upside of 18.40%. Given Cantaloupe’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Cantaloupe is more favorable than Western Union.

Risk & Volatility

Western Union has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cantaloupe has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.8% of Western Union shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.8% of Cantaloupe shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Western Union shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of Cantaloupe shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

About Western Union

The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The company operates through Consumer Money Transfer and Consumer Services segments. The Consumer Money Transfer segment facilitates money transfers for international cross-border and intra-country transfers, primarily through a network of retail agent locations, as well as through websites and mobile devices. The Consumer Services segments offers bill payment services, which facilitate payments for consumers, businesses, and other organizations, as well as money order services, retail foreign exchange services, prepaid cards, lending partnerships, and digital wallets. The company was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

About Cantaloupe

Cantaloupe, Inc., a digital payments and software services company, provides technology solutions for self-service commerce market. The company offers integrated solutions for payments processing, logistics, and back-office management. It also provides G11 cashless and pulse kits that are 4G LTE digital payment devices for payment and consumer engagement applications; G11 chip kit, a digital reader that accepts contact EMV and contactless EMV payment methods; Engage series comprising Engage and Engage Combo, which are digital touchscreen devices that offers networking, security, and interactivity payment methods; and card touchscreen card readers, including P66, P100, P100Pro, and P30. In addition, the company offers self-checkout kiosks,?smart store?concepts, and the Cantaloupe Go management platform comprising Go Mini, Go MiniX, Go Plus100, Go Plus200, Go Plus300, Go Max, Cooler Cafe, and Smart Market; Go Portal, a robust cloud-based platform; and Cheq products, which supports attended and unattended self-service kiosks for the stadium, entertainment, and festival sectors. Further, it provides integrated software services for payment or asset tracking devices in the field to connect into platform for advanced data management, analytics, route scheduling, and loyalty and reward programs; and a range of self-service hardware solutions for vending, micro-markets, amusement, arcade, commercial laundry, air/vacuum, car wash, and other applications. Additionally, the company offers professional, network infrastructure, card processing, and customer/consumer services. Cantaloupe, Inc. was formerly known as USA Technologies, Inc. The company was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania.